Is Happiness a Choice?

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In between stimulus and response, es aact, there is the gapa in which we can choose our response. So absolute happiness is not a choice. Nobody's ever always happy. Losing my child could make me miserable. But also in relative terms, from that new low point of my life. I may never return back to that high point. And i have the choice to make that incremental bit. And that incremental bit, interestingly, is the wise choice. Even if it doesn't get you to absolute happiness, which nobody is ever at, still counts as a choice.

If you take control over your brain, you can do anything - but what’s the formula?

Some moments in life fundamentally change the way you think about the world - that’s what this conversation with Mo Gawdat did for me and what I’m certain it will do for you too.

Mo is the former Chief Business Officer of Google X, Google's moonshot factory of innovation, a prolific researcher and writer on the topic of happiness and has an incredibly touching story.

In 2014, Mo lost his son Ali unexpectedly during a routine medical procedure. Days after, Mo set off on a mission to solve one of the biggest problems of our time, by pouring his research into the international best selling book, ‘Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path To Joy’ - the audiobook brought me to tears.

#OneBillionHappy is his moonshot attempt to honour Ali by spreading the message that happiness can be learned and shared with one simple technique: the happiness equation.

For the next 90 minutes I ask you to forget everything you’ve learned about happiness from the modern world until now. In the episode we talk about a lot of things, things that may sit uncomfortably with some people, but also have the potential to be truly life changing.

00:00 Intro
2:16 Writing a book about happiness after losing your son
07:37 Battling the negativity bias instinct
10:42 Is happiness a choice?
19:59 The difference between happiness and fun
31:07 Understanding the happiness equation and unhappiness
39:23 Do lower expectations make us happier?
43:01 How should we manage ambitions?
57:00 You are born a millionaire
01:01:31 Is solve for happy the domain of the privileged?
01:09:00 Relationships: life is a question of context
01:15:22 Feminine vs masculine energy

🔔 Sign up to Cohort 6 of my Part-Time YouTuber Academy: https://academy.aliabdaal.com/

🔗 CONNECT WITH MO

🎥 YouTube Channel
🐦 Twitter
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💻 Website
🎙 Slo Mo Podcast
😊 Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path To Joy
🗣 That Little Voice In Your Head

🔗 CONNECT WITH ALI
🎥 YouTube Channel
🐦 Twitter
📸 Instagram
💻 Website
👥 Linkedin

Find the show notes and the transcript on the website: https://aliabdaal.com/podcast/